


Safe & Sound

by BriTargaryen



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dad Jon, Dany has secrets, Five Stages of Grief, Grief/Mourning, Mom Dany, and trust issues, angst-ish, need i say more?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:54:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29490930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriTargaryen/pseuds/BriTargaryen
Summary: After her husband’s sudden passing, Dany flees as far as she can get away from their families, ending up in Winterfell with her son Rhae.Her best friend convinces her to go to grief counseling where she meets Jon, a friendly local who recently lost his wife in a tragic accident and is learning himself how to tackle single parenthood.Dany seems to run into Jon wherever she goes. She knows better than anyone that things aren’t always as they seem, so she tries to keep her distance. Can she trust him? Can she trust herself to stay away?
Relationships: Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen
Comments: 17
Kudos: 89





	Safe & Sound

**Author's Note:**

> As promised, here’s my next multi-chap 🙌🏼 I wanted to post this on Valentine's Day, but my little man is a Valentine's baby and turned the big ONE, so I had zero time lol. Not sure how long this one will be. I’m guessing four-ish chapters but y’all know I can get carried away 😂 this was supposed to be a slow-burn but I think I’m incapable of doing that 🤣
> 
> I took inspiration from a couple of my favorite movies and a couple of my favorite tv shows and jumbled it all together into my own story. If you can guess any of them by the end, kudos to you ☺️ 
> 
> As always, mistakes & mood board are on me ♥️

The florescent lights buzzed above, the fan oscillated in the corner. She tipped her boots up and down on the flat grey carpet. Her body started to ache from the hard plastic of the chair. She was getting fidgety. Spacing off.

This was the last place she wanted to be. _Good Grief: A Place for Mourning_. She didn’t need to grieve, didn’t need to mourn. But her best friend turned therapist suggested it. Said it would bring her closure.

So there she sat, her first meeting with the group in a drab room with strangers who went through the same thing she had. Or at least they thought they had.

“Dany?” She was pulled from her thoughts. She still wasn’t used to being called that name again. The counselor, Melisandre spoke to her. An odd woman, sort of creepy, she had to admit. She seemed aged to perfection with her long deep red hair, her eyes wide and curious.

“Yes? Sorry.” She answered.

“Would you like to introduce yourself? Maybe share your story?”

Dany eyed the woman, and then scanned the other faces in the room. A young woman and her husband who’d lost their child shortly after birth. An older woman who’d lost her son in the war.

A woman about her age who claimed her husband went out to sea for work and never returned. She seemed quite insufferable and Dany figured he probably ran on purpose. She cursed herself at the thought.

A young man who’d recently lost both of his parents and siblings in a car accident. And then another man, also about her age who’d recently lost his wife in some freak hiking incident. Josh? She was pretty sure he said his name was Josh. He was quite handsome, broody for sure. But he did have reason, she supposed.

“Uhm...sure...” She cleared her throat. “Uhh...I’m Dany...I moved here about a month ago with my son. We lost his father, my...husband, about two months ago. He died shockingly in his sleep. I suppose we just needed a fresh start.” She forced a smile, shrugging, rubbing her sweaty palms up and down her denim covered thighs.

Words of welcome and sympathy circled the room. She smiled and nodded, trying to be nice. She didn’t need sympathy, or pity. She needed to put the whole thing behind her.

Melisandre finished their meeting with words of wisdom and a speech about the five stages of grief. Denial. She certainly wasn’t in denial. She knew Drogo would never be able to lay a hand on her again.

He’d been sweet in the beginning. It was awkward at first, they were set up by their parents. A way to tie their families together. But they grew to love one another, a tenderness grew between them.

When she got pregnant, he proposed and she said yes. At the time, she just wanted a family of her own. Once they were wed, Drogo became cold and distant, his words hurtful. As soon as Rhae was born his verbal abuse became physical.

So his death was not tragic for her. She felt nothing. Nothing but the chains wrapped around her breaking free. She hoped maybe group would make her feel some sense of normalcy, some sadness. But it didn’t come.

Winterfell certainly wasn’t her definition of a fresh start, but it was a continent away, a quiet town where she wouldn’t draw attention. Close enough to a port or a plane if she needed to run again. Run from her family. From _his_ family.

She only wanted somewhere calm and quiet where she could start over. Somewhere Rhae could call home. The cold wasn’t ideal and most of the people were as harsh as the weather, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle.

They’d been there about a month. The moment she stepped off the plane, she had no idea what she was going to do, where they would go, how they’d get by. She’d breathed in the cold winter air and set off to the nearest hotel.

Her new ID read Dany Storm, and had a new photo of her with her now dark hair, shorter than her usual long silver tresses. It’d been hard for her to do, but Rhae telling her how pretty she looked, and how much he loved that she now had dark hair like him, that made it all better.

They’d brought minimal belongings, just enough to get by. She had a new phone with a new number, and had all but wiped herself, and Rhae, from existence. She’d drained her and Drogo’s account and her trust before taking off, making sure to only use cash.

They stayed in the hotel about a week, just long enough for her to find a realtor who found her the perfect house to rent. It was a shack compared to her mansion in Essos, but she had always hated all the space anyway.

It was a small cottage near the wolfswood. Secluded. Private. It was just big enough for her and Rhae, and it needed some work, but she didn’t mind, that gave her the opportunity to make it her own.

Another week or two after getting settled in the house, she went searching for a job. She didn’t need the money, but she didn’t want to live off her savings, and she knew she’d go stir crazy doing nothing all day while Rhae went to school.

She managed to get him enrolled mid-semester at the preschool in town. He managed to make friends quickly and loved his new teacher. Many told her he was too little to really process what had happened, but seeing him be okay made her feel a little bit better about her choices.

With Winterfell being a smaller town, jobs were sparse and she definitely didn’t have room, or time, to be picky. She and Rhae had stopped at a local diner for dinner one evening and the owner, Marya, had charmed her into applying to work there.

She knew it wasn’t much, but she didn’t mind. Marya hired her on the spot and let her start the next day. She claimed having her around would give her a break, but so far she was still there every day that Dany worked.

Dany didn’t mind, Marya was good company, one of the few people that had been genuinely kind to her since she’d arrived. It certainly helped that Marya was also a mother to many sons, so she figured her advice could come handy one day.

She pulled her purse over her shoulder and pulled her black cardigan tighter around her and began making her way from group to work. It wasn’t a long walk, a few blocks maybe, but Dany was certainly regretting not bringing her coat.

She didn’t make it too far before she heard the rumble of an engine pull up beside her. A quick look to her left and she saw the man from group driving an old blue truck. Josh? Handsome was an understatement, he was beautiful.

His eyes were a grey that reminded her of the sky right before a storm. She loved storms. He wore his dark curly hair pulled up into a bun, tight denim jeans and an even tighter black v-neck t-shirt. A dark green utility jacket. She didn’t miss the dog tags hanging from his neck.

“Can I give you a lift?” He smiled kindly.

“I’m alright, thank you.” She tried to be polite.

“It’s quite cold. I don’t bite, I promise.” He joked.

“That’s okay, I’ll be alright.” She stood her ground. She knew she was just being a stubborn ass, and he probably was just trying to be nice. In a different lifetime she probably would have jumped right in and enjoyed the company of a beautiful man being nice to her. But in this lifetime she couldn’t take any chances. She couldn’t let her guard down here.

“Suit yourself.” He shrugged, waiving as he slowly drove off.

Dany walked the rest of the way to the restaurant, snow crunching under her boots, and by the time she got there, she couldn’t feel her fingers. She got warmed up eventually and threw an apron on over her head and got to work. Marya was busy bossing all the cooks around in the kitchen, she smiled to herself and shook her head.

Her days at work seemed to go by quickly. Everyone was mostly friendly to her there. She loved serving the older couples that came in, she imagined they’d have all sorts of stories to tell. She’d go around refilling coffee, smiling politely and greeting others as they came in.

Hours passed and it was finally her favorite time of the day. Not only was she done working, but it was time to go get Rhae from school. She’d miss him terribly throughout the day.

She hung her apron, said bye to Marya and the other workers, grabbed her things and made for the door. Not paying attention, as she reached the front doors, she bumped right into someone. One look up told her it was none other than the man from group. His touch burned on her arms.

“I’m so sorry!” She stammered out, regaining her balance.

“It’s alright.” He smiled, letting go of her elbows quickly.

“You!” She realized.

“It’s me.” He shrugged. “I’m not following you, I promise.” He added nervously. “I came to grab some dinner for me and my uhh...”

His girlfriend, she figured.

“My daughter.” He finished, shyly.

Dany’s eyes went wide, surprised. “You have a child?”

“Yes. Lya. I think she might actually be in your sons class. She told me a while back about a new boy in her class. When you said something about him in group it clicked. Not often we get newcomers around here.”

“Right.” Dany smiled nervously. “How old is she?”

“Four.”

“Rhae, too.”

“I’m headed to pick her up after. I’d offer to drive you but something tells me you’re going to say no.” He smirked.

Dany’s smile grew, and she looked away. “Yes, I’m afraid I have to decline.”

“Alright, well...see you around...Dany? It was Dany right?”

She shouldn’t like the sound of her name, or nickname rather, coming from his mouth so much. “Yes, it’s Dany. Josh, was it?”

“Jon.” He chuckled.

“Ah, right! Jon. See you around Jon.” She smiled and made her way out of the building. It was still freezing outside, but she knew it would get colder. She didn’t know much about the north, but she did know that.

Another short walk and she’d arrived at Rhae’s school just in time. The bell was ringing and a bunch of small children came running out. She spotted Rhae pretty quickly with his head of dark curls and his bright blue coat. He spotted her as well and came running.

Dany squatted down to his level as he crashed into her, giving her a tight hug. “Hi baby.” She chuckled. “I missed you today.”

“I missed you too, mama.” He smiled.

“Did you have a good day?”

“Yes, we made snowflakes! I brought one to hang up in our house.”

“That’s wonderful love.” She said as she pulled his beanie and gloves from his backpack, he always forgot and hated wearing them. As she pulled them on his head and little hands, a little girl ran past them with familiar eyes and she watched her run all the way to the equally familiar blue truck.

Jon stood waiting for her and picked her up and spun her around once she made it to him. “Is that little girl in your class?” She asked as they started their way down the sidewalk. Rhae constantly complained about having to walk everywhere, but she didn’t mind it.

“Yes, her name’s Lyanna. She’s very nice.”

“Well that’s good. I’m glad you’ve made friends.”

“Yes, her mama died, just like daddy.”

Dany’s heart crushed. She was certainly no worse for wear with Drogo gone, but she hated that Rhae would have to grow up without his father. “I know love, I met her father today and he mentioned it. It’s terrible.”

“Mama?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t want you to die.”

She looked down at Rhae, his little forced smile tugging at her heart. She crouched down to him again, holding his hand and pushing some of his stray curls out of his face with the other. “Hey. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be right here with you, okay?”

He nodded and hugged her again before they started walking again, waving to Jon and his daughter as they passed them. Their house was about two miles from the school and the walk was usually filled with a million questions from Rhae.

* * *

Another week went by and Dany fell into a normal routine. Wake up, Breakfast, walk Rhae to school, go to work, pick Rhae up from school, make dinner, do their bedtime checklist and repeat. She did continue to go to group once a week, despite how little she felt it helped.

At her second meeting, she found it even harder to concentrate. Melisandre went on and on about _Anger_. Most people probably felt anger for their loved one being taken from them. She felt anger well before Drogo was even gone. Anger at herself for allowing the abuse to continue. Anger with him for portraying the perfect picture of love to her only to turn on her and become a monster.

Anger with her parents, especially her father, for knowing what was going on under her roof and not caring enough to help her. Anger with the gods for cursing her with such a life. If it weren’t for Rhae, she’d have ran a long time ago. She certainly wasn’t angry he was gone.

She found herself fiddling with the rips in her jeans, eyeing the indentation of where her wedding ring used to be. She could feel eyes on her, and a look up told her it was Jon. He smirked, looking just as miserable and ready to be out of there as she was.

Today his hair was down and his full head of curls reminded her of Rhae. He had on a flannel button up shirt, black tight jeans, and glasses perched on his nose. His arms were crossed, he seemed annoyed.

She’d ran into him several times over the past week, and every time he offered to drive her wherever she was going, and every time she declined.

After a grueling hour, their meeting came to an end. She stood, pulling her coat from the back of the chair and slipping her arms into it. Jon approached her from across the room.

“Finally tired of freezing your arse off?” He joked, likely referencing the fact that she finally wore a coat.

“Ha-Ha” She rolled her eyes playfully.

“I know it’s probably annoying that I keep doing this, but I have to ask if I can drive you? My mother would come back from the dead and ring my neck if she knew I was letting a lady walk all over Winterfell nearing the peak of winter and didn’t even offer to give her a lift.”

She looked up at him. His eyes told her she could trust him. But there was a time when she thought she could trust Drogo too. She frowned at the thought. “I appreciate the offer, but really I’m okay.”

“Dany, please let me drive you. I’m going to Seaworth’s anyway. I’m starving.” He smiled, and she could tell he was lying.

She hesitated for a moment, knowing he was only going to keep asking. In all truth, she couldn’t keep comparing him, or anyone for that matter, to Drogo. It wasn’t as if he was asking her to marry him and mother his babies, he was just offering a ride. “Alright.” She finally agreed.

“Really?” He was surprised.

“Yes, really. But you will let me pay you back in the form of coffee.” She said, and he agreed. “Now let’s go before I change my mind.”

Jon chuckled and led the way to his truck in the parking lot and held the passenger door open for her, keeping up the gentlemanly persona. “Sorry about the mess, Lyanna doesn’t quite care to keep things tidy.” He smiled.

“I can relate. Rhae is much the same.”

“He’s very cute. Pulls off the curls much better than me.” He jested, climbing in the drivers side.

“Yes, well, he gets that from his father.”

“Has your eyes though.” Jon smiled.

Dany looked at him then, his grey glued to her violet. “Yeah...he does.” She cleared her throat, looking away from him. “So, what do you do Jon...?”

“Stark.” He grinned. “Jon Stark. I own the convenience store up the road. It’s pretty much an everything store.” He laughed. “Davos, Marya’s husband, he sold it to me when I got home from the war. Said they were tired of running two businesses. But the old man still never leaves the store.” He smiled, watching the road.

She could tell he was fond of the Seaworth’s. She had only met Davos in passing, but she too was quite fond of Marya. “How long have you been back?”

“About four years. Made it home just in time for Lyanna to be born.”

“Did you grow up here?”

“Yes, with my mother. She passed about six years ago. Cancer.”

“I’m sorry.” She said, but she knew it didn’t mean anything.

“S’alright. I miss her, but I’m glad she’s no longer in pain. Just wish she could have met Lya. She’s named after her.”

“It’s a beautiful name.”

“What about Rhae? That short for anything?”

“No.” She lied. “My mother is Rhaella, my brother Rhaegar, so he’s just Rhae.” She smiled, thinking of her little man.

“And what about Dany? Let me guess...Danielle?” He joked.

She laughed, shaking her head. “No. Just Dany.” She lied again.

“You miss Essos? It’s pretty cold up here.”

“I’ve grown used to it.” She smiled, opening her door as they pulled up to the restaurant. She jumped out and Jon came around to meet her. “You like working here?”

“It’s not much, but I don’t need much. I like the company.”

“That’s good.” He held the door open for her and she walked in. “If you want to grab a table I’m going to go put my things up and I’ll be back.” She said, and Jon nodded, moving to an empty booth.

It was a slow morning, so Marya told her to go ahead and sit with Jon for a while. She felt bad offering him coffee only to make him drink it alone. She hung up her coat and purse, still in a long sleeve white shirt and jeans with black boots, her hair wavy and very little make-up on, but she didn’t care.

She grabbed two cups of coffee and some creamer and went to sit across from Jon, sliding him one of the cups. He took it and drank it straight, which was how she liked it too. They both sipped for a moment and then their eyes met again.

After feeling like it was lingering too long, Dany looked down at the table. She noticed Jon was also no longer wearing a wedding ring. She felt like it was a normal thing for people to keep wearing them for a while after their lovers passed, maybe his situation was a bit like hers...

“Your wife...how long ago did she pass?”

Jon winced, but then smiled. “Uh...it’s been about six months now.”

“I’m sorry to hear what happened, that couldn’t have been easy for you.”

“Honestly, I had a feeling it would happen one day. She was a ranger, and she was never careful. She’d go up in the mountains when it was icy, no protection. She was brave...wild I suppose. I always warned her it would happen, begged her to be safe. When the sherif showed up at my door that evening I already knew what they were going to say.”

“Do you miss her?”

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t, but I miss her for Lyanna more than anything. A girl needs a mother.”

“I think the same about Rhae all the time. My husband was...well, he wasn’t the greatest husband. But he was a good father. I worry about what effects that will have on Rhae.”

“He’ll be alright. He seems like a good lad. Seems to have a strong mother.” He smiled.

“Thank you.” She smiled back. “Seems like Lyanna has a pretty good father as well from what I’ve seen of him.”

“She makes it easy. She’s much more like me than she is her mother.”

“What, broody and over polite?” Dany teased.

“Aye, I suppose so.” He laughed. It was quiet for a moment. “Do you miss him? Your husband I mean.” He flipped her question on her.

Her eyes met his and then flitted back to her hands. “No.” She said honestly. She didn’t want to lie about anything else. Especially not to Jon, who’d been nothing but kind to her.

He reached across the table for her hand, and she flinched at first, but then let him take it, and he squeezed, looking at her until she’d look back at him, and she did. “I’m sorry.” He said earnestly. Dany nodded and pulled her hand away.

They eased back into small talk about things around town, about their children, about his shop. After about an hour, he had to go and she had to get to work, so they said their goodbyes.

* * *

A week passed, and she surprisingly hadn’t seen Jon at all. She was starting to wonder if he was avoiding her, maybe their conversation got too personal. But finally he was there at group. Their third meeting.

Today they were talking about Bargaining. She certainly wouldn’t bargain anything to have Drogo back. So she spent the entire time in a daze, and Jon eyeing her from across the room, rolling his eyes when Mel would say something over dramatic, causing her to giggle. Missy would be disappointed she wasn’t taking this serious.

Afterwards, he of course offered to drive her to work. She agreed, yelling at herself internally, making herself believe this wouldn’t become a habit. This time he dropped her out front, but stopped her as she was getting out.

“You mind if I come get you after and we can go pick the children up together? There’s a bad storm rolling in. It’d give me peace of mind.”

Dany thought about it for a second. “Sure” she nodded. “Thanks Jon.” She said, getting out. She waived goodbye to him as she walked in the front doors, and he waived back.

She had to look at her watch when she saw him pull back out front because she couldn’t believe how fast the day had passed. Sure enough, it was time for her to get off and go get Rhae.

She went back and grabbed her things, said her goodbyes and ran out and jumped in Jon’s truck. “Hi” she smiled, rubbing her hands together. Her nerves were buzzing. She wondered if she was doing the right thing letting him around Rhae?

_Shut up Dany_. She thought to herself. It wasn’t as if they were anything but friends. Acquaintances at best.

Jon smiled over at her. His smile made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. She wanted to slap herself at the thought. “Glad you weren’t being stubborn today, it’s getting bad out.” He snorted.

He was right, the snow was coming down heavy and the wind made it even colder than it actually was. “You think you’re sooo funny don’t you?” She smacked his arm, shaking her head laughing, causing him to chuckle too.

They finally calmed, Jon keeping a close eye on the road. “But really, thank you for doing this. I don’t...trust people easily. Especially after my husband. I’m sorry if I was rude before.”

“I understand. A single mom in a new area. It’s smart to be careful with who you trust. I know most everyone around here. I can tell you who to look out for.” He smirked. “That Jon Stark for one. He’s a real bloke.”

“Shut up.” She shook her head, smirking as she watched out her window.

“You weren’t. Rude, that is. I don’t blame you for declining. Hopefully you’ll learn you can count on me. I mean, you’ve gotta have someone in town you can go to if you need something, right?”

“I suppose so.” She answered wearily.

When they pulled up to the school, she got out to run up and get Rhae. She knew he wouldn’t be able to see her from Jon’s truck. The snow felt like tiny shards of glass against her skin. The bell rang and thankfully the children came running out.

Rhae ran up to her and hugged her, he hated the cold. “Hi baby.” She smiled, leaning down to pick him up. “Lya’s dad Jon is going to give us a ride home. It’s too cold for us to walk. Is that alright?”

Rhae nodded and they walked back to Jon’s truck. Lyanna had already beat them there and climbed up into the truck. There was no back seat, so the children had to squeeze together in the middle.

“Thank you for driving us Jon. I hate walking.” Rhae said as soon as Dany had the passenger door shut. She laughed, unsurprised, the child never had a filter.

Jon laughed too. “Anytime little man.”

Dany knew Rhae would take that too literal, but that’d be a conversation for another time.

It only took them a few minutes to get to her house. Their drive was filled with them asking the children about their days, and her directing Jon where to go. He eventually pulled in the long driveway and pushed his truck into park next to the house so they could get out.

She jumped out, and then helped Rhae out, and he took off to the front door, yelling his thanks again over his shoulder. Dany smiled and shook her head. “Thanks again Jon.”

He nodded, smiling. “Hurry in before you freeze.”

Dany nodded and waived to him. “Bye Lya!”

Once inside she quickly turned the heat up and lit a fire in the fire place. Rhae quickly discarded his backpack, coat, and shoes by the door, running for the bathroom. She chuckled, knowing how much he hated using public restrooms.

She moved to put up her own things, and then made her way into the kitchen to decide what to make for dinner. Rhae padded barefoot in behind her. “What would you like for dinner love?”

“Hmmm. Dragon nuggets.”

Dany sighed, that was all he ever wanted. “You’re going to turn into a chicken, you know that?”

“Or a dragon.” He smiled. Dany ruffled his hair, smiling along with him. “How about spaghetti?”

“Fine. But with bread please.”

“Deal.” She held her hand out to him and they shook on it. “Would you like to help me?”

“Sure. We should have asked Lya to stay. I bet she likes spaghetti?”

Dany nearly froze at the suggestion. She knew Rhae had grown quite fond of Lya, but having Lya over meant having Jon over too. In her personal space, her safe space.

“Maybe another time sweet. Let’s get this done, mama is starving.” She lifted him onto the counter.

After thirty or forty-five minutes, they were done and dinner was served.She laughed as Rhae slurped up one noodle at a time. Her efforts to try and teach him to roll them around his fork were pointless.

“Mama?”

“Yes baby?”

“When can uncle Rhae visit? I miss him. And grandma.”

Dany hesitated. Vis was never around long enough for Rhae to get attached to him, and her father never spent more time with him than hugging him hello and goodbye. Drogo’s family only cared about him in the sense that he was their next “heir”. So it was only Rhaegar and her mother that Rhae really cared for.

“We’ve talked about this baby. It’s not safe for them to know where we are.” She reminded him. That was as far as the conversation ever went. He was too little to understand that his fathers family would try and take him from her. And her family wouldn’t hesitate to tell them where they were.

Thankfully he dropped it, but the frown on his little face broke her heart. “How about we get you washed up, and then we can make some popcorn and watch any movie you’d like?”

He smiled then, nodding, and all was right in the world again. She knew one day he’d be older and it wouldn’t always be so easy to distract him or cheer him up.

Dany changed out of her jeans and into some leggings and met Rhae in the bathroom to give him a bath. His baths always took about three times longer than they should thanks to the toys and bath crayons. She didn’t mind, she’d do anything to make him happy.

When she finally convinced him to get out, his water was chilled and his fingers and toes were wrinkly. She dried him off and got him changed into warm pajamas. A peak outside told her the snow was still coming down heavily.

She and Rhae made his favorite popcorn and then settled on the couch. Rhae of course picked the movie about the frozen ice Queen. It’d become his favorite since Lya had told him it was hers. He was convinced that the Queen lived in the far north and he could go meet her one day.

About two thirds into the movie Rhae fell asleep with his head in her lap. She ran her fingers through his soft curls. Her heart could burst with how much she loved him.

When she knew he was fast asleep, she moved him into his bed. With the wind howling like it was, she knew he’d likely end up with her in her bed before the night was over, but she didn’t mind. She tucked him in anyway and snuck back out to the living room.

She poured herself a glass of wine and pulled out her phone to call Missy for their weekly catch up. Missy would have her on the phone every day if she could, but Dany knew it was too risky. Her family knew how close they were.

It only rang two or three times before she picked up. “Hi!” She answered, and Dany could hear the smile in her voice. “Hello.” She chuckled.

Dany told her all about everything that’d happened since they last spoke. Missy filled her in on things there too, noting that her family hadn’t contacted her at all. She was glad for that at least.

“So we’re experiencing our first snow storm.” Dany told her with fake enthusiasm.

“You shouldn’t be out walking in that, especially not with Rhae.”

“We didn’t actually. A guy from group offered to drive me.”

“Oh? Is he cute?”

“Missy!”

Missy giggled. “Well I hope you’re at least being safe. Not taking rides from random strange men.”

“Jon isn’t strange. He’s just being nice. His daughter is in Rhae’s class.”

“Jon hmm? You sound fond of him.”

“You know it’s not like that. It can never be like that, I have to keep my guard up.”

“Dany, you can’t just be alone forever. You can still be safe and protect Rhae while letting yourself have a little bit of happiness. Not that that’s with this Jon person, I just mean in general.”

“Opening up to anyone means putting mine and Rhae’s safety at risk. You know what will happen if they find us. If anyone figures out who we are...”

“I know. I just worry about you. I don’t want you to be lonely. At least try to make friends.”

“I will.” She smiled sadly. They continued on about other things and eventually their conversation came to an end. Dany said her goodbyes promising to call her again in the next week or so.

She curled up on the couch, pulling a soft throw over her and turned on some sappy romance series she’d been sucked into, sipping her wine. She knew Missy was right, she couldn’t shut out the world forever. But she wouldn’t risk being found. It was too soon.

But she also couldn’t ignore that insistent feeling that told her that she could trust Jon.

* * *

The next morning she woke to an early call from Rhae’s school telling her they’d cancelled class for the day due to the weather. She had a voicemail from Marya telling her they’d be closed for the day as well.

Rhae had of course climbed into bed with her at some point in the middle of the night. She sighed in relief, thankful for a break in their routine. A snow day for them to just relax. She hugged him a little tighter, the smell of his watermelon shampoo filling her senses.

She drifted off back to sleep for a while, and woke again to a text from an unknown number.

_Hey, it’s Jon. Hope you don’t mind I got your number from Marya. Lots of power outages around town and it’s getting worse out there. Let me know if you need anything. Don’t need you trying to walk around town freezing your arse off._

She smiled at first, scoffing at his jokes about her freezing. But then she got a sinking feeling in her stomach. She knew he was just trying to be nice, but the fear in her told her he was crossing a line. She didn’t need Jon to save her.

She locked her phone and sat it aside. She turned back to Rhae and began poking and prodding at him until he finally woke in a fit of giggles. “Stop mama!” He laughed, wiggling away from her.

“Guess what?” She asked, and his eyes shot to hers in question. “No school today.”

“Yay!” He shouted, getting up to jump on her bed. But then he stopped abruptly, moving to sit back down next to her. “But that means I won’t see Lya today.”

“It’s okay love, you’ll see her as soon as you go back. The weather is just really bad.”

Rhae nodded in understanding and they both eventually drug themselves out of bed to the kitchen for some breakfast. She was happy to have an entire day to spend with just them.

* * *

After two more snow days, and then the weekend, the town had somewhat returned to normal. Dany didn’t miss the giant hills of snow that’d been plowed all over town. It was still cold, but not too cold to get where they needed to go.

She walked Rhae to school and then herself to group. She got there a bit early, but didn’t miss that Jon was also already there. She hadn’t spoke to him since he dropped her off that day, she never responded to his text.

He eyed her from across the room, seemingly in question, maybe feeling her out for her mood. She avoided his gaze as much as possible, not liking the feeling of vulnerability that flooded her when he looked at her.

Today they were talking about depression, the stage she probably related to the least. She may have a lot of turmoil leftover from Drogo’s passing, more from the mess of getting away than from him being gone, but she definitely wasn’t depressed.

So as usual, she paid no mind to the discussions. When called upon she said the least she could. She fiddled with the thermal material through the rips in her jeans. She’d started layering thanks to the cold. She ran her fingers over the beads on her bracelet that Rhae had made her. It had little letters that read “Rhae” on one side, and “Mama” on the other.

Finally class was over and she darted out as quickly as she could, wanting to avoid having to face Jon. She never saw or heard his truck pass as she walked up the sidewalk to work, so she figured maybe he went the other way.

Maybe she was just being over dramatic? She knew Jon meant well, but she didn’t want blurred lines between them. She felt like her boundaries had been crossed. But Jon didn’t know her boundaries, didn’t know how high her walls went.

She busied herself with work, pushing the thoughts aside for the time being. But then her work day was over and it was time to walk to get Rhae and she knew she’d see him there.

That was all she could think about as she trudged to the school. She could hardly feel her toes despite her warm boots, and she was pretty sure her nose was going to freeze off. She certainly didn’t remember it being this cold earlier. Her beanie at least kept her ears warm and she’d invested in thicker gloves and coats for herself and Rhae.

Finally she’d made it to the school with a few minutes to spare. She made a point not to look around for Jon or his truck, keeping her eyes forward towards the school. Just a couple more minutes and Rhae would come racing out and she could forget about Jon.

But then she felt him at her side before she saw him. Warmth radiated from him and she looked over at him with her brows furrowed, thinking it so odd that he seemed right at home in the freezing cold.

“You and Rhae weather the storm okay?”

“Yes, thank you.” She looked back ahead, avoiding him again.

“Did you get my text? I hope you didn’t get out in that mess.”

“I did.” She could feel his eyes on her, could see him nod from the corner of her eye.

“It’s pretty cold.” She could tell he was trying to keep the conversation going. “I could drive you and Rhae if you’d like?”

“I don’t need your pity Jon.” She snapped. And she regretted it the second it came out, but couldn’t seem to stop herself from continuing. “Rhae and I are just fine the way things are. I am perfectly capable of taking care of us on my own, I don’t need you trying to swoop in and save us.”

His eyes were wide, and he tried moving closer to her, but she took a step back and shook her head. She was thankful there wasn’t anyone else close enough to hear them or care what was going on.

His jaw hardened then and he straightened his stance, nodding. “Alright. I’ll leave you be then. But for the record, I never pitied you Dany. I know you’re more than capable on your own. I only wanted to help. I know that being a single parent is no easy feat. There’s nothing wrong with accepting a little help from time to time.”

She paused for a moment, watching him. She opened her mouth to respond. To snap back at him, to counter him, to apologize? She wasn’t sure. But before she could make up her mind, Rhae was crashing into her, and Lyanna into Jon.

They both quickly schooled their faces and Jon picked up Lya and kissed her cheek while she crouched down to hug Rhae. “Hello my little dragon.” She nuzzled her nose against his.

“Hi mama! Guess what?”

“Tell me.” She smiled.

“Lya says we can have dinner at her house!”

Dany’s eyes went wide before she could stop them.

“Yeah!” Lya chimed in. “Rhae said we missed spaghetti at his house. So I said daddy could cook us something at our house!”

Dany smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. She looked to Jon who was equally as panicked, and then to Rhae. “Pleaseeee mama!” He begged.

Before she could get the “no” out that she had planned, Jon was answering for her. “I think that’d be a great idea Rhae. You and your mother are welcome to have dinner at our place anytime.” He smiled at Rhae, and then her.

What an arse, using her child against her. She rolled her eyes and was once again cut off by Lya this time. “Okay so let’s go!” She urged them along.

“Wait, you mean tonight?” Jon asked.

“Yes, right now.” She answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Let’s go.” She motioned towards Jon’s truck again, and Rhae followed, tugging Dany long.

“Alright...let’s go.” Jon added, looking over his shoulder to her in question. She shrugged, knowing they weren’t getting out of this.

So much for boundaries.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think so far ☺️  
> No timeline on updates on this baby. I’ve been feeling LOTS of inspo to FINALLY work on my fix it fic. We’ll see 😬 Thank you all as always for any comments & kudos ♥️


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